Nt eichaeds



' Nrrnn STATES JOHN RICHARDS, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

SHAFT-COUPLING.

LPI'CIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 33%,541 dated January19l 1886.

Application iiled November 1E, 1885. Serial No. 153,194. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN RICHARDS, a citizen of the United States,residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inShaft-Couplings; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figuresof reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of devices knownas shaft-couplings and it consists in a coupling constructed in twoparts or halves connected by clamping-screws, each half consisting oftwo semi-cylindrical walls or shells formed integral with each other bymeans of transverse partitions; and, further, it consists in certainpeculiarities of construction, as will be hereinafter fully set forth.

In the annexed drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure 1 is aperspective view of my improved shaft-coupling with one corner brokenaway to show the interior space between the shells of one section, andFig. 2 is a crosssection of the same.

Like letters of reference designate like parts in the several views. v

A Arepresent the two hollow sections or parts of which the coupling iscomposed. Each of these sections is formed with two semi-cylindricalwalls, c b, between which is an annular space, as clearly shown in Fig.2. These two walls c b are formed integral with each other by means ofend walls and transverse partitions or diaphragms e e, which divide upthe hollow space into several chambers, within which are located thenuts for securing the clamping-bolts.

Reference to Fig. 2 will show that the inner shells, c a, are flangedlongitudinally, these anges being perforated for the passage of bolts cc. It is generally most convenient, also, to provide the interiorsurface of shells a a with one or more recesses for the insertion ofkeys, as is usually done in most shaft-couplings. The outer shells, bb,completely cover the inner shells,with the eXceptionof the slots cl d,which are left open, there being one of them between every twotransverse partitions, preferably, and sufficiently large to allow ofthe easy manipulation through it of a wrench or other instrument fortightening the nuts upon the clamping-bolts. The number of partitions ordiaphragms e e will obviously depend upon the length and size of thecoupling, as will also the number of bolts c. In the smaller sizes twobolts on a side might be sufficient to clamp the two sections together.In larger sizes four bolts would be requisite, or an intermediate sizemight have three bolts, as shown in the drawings. By this construction acompression-coupling is effected which issimple, durable, cheap,andinterchangeable, so as to be adjustable to the extent of clamping andconnecting shafts of slightly-varying diameter. There are no projectingparts to catch or cause danger, since the heads of the bolts and thenuts are entirely shielded and covered by the outer shells. Thiscovering also preserves the bolts by keeping them inclosed, so that theyare not liable to rust. This coupling can be employed as a pulley todrive machinery, since its external surface is cylindrical andsufficiently large to carry aband or belt. A greater strength is alsogained vwith the same amount of metal used by other couplin gs much lessstrong. .Hitherto entire cylindrical sleeves have been used to cover thebolts. Such sleeves evidently add nothing to the strength of thecoupling, for they are detachable therefrom and are merely used to coverthe bolts. The interior parts have to be made as heavy as before-that isto say,

they have to be made heavy enough to take the entire strains to whichthe coupling is snbj ected. This increases very much the relativeproportion of the diameter of the coupling to that of the shaft. Thebolts are consequently situated at some distance from the shaft itself.A great desideratum in a shaftcoupling is to have the bolts placed closeto the shaft. This makes the coupling lighter, while at the same time itgives it greater strength. In the couplings just described recesses ornotches are usually made for receiving the heads and nuts of bolts inorder to attain this end. In my improved coupling the inner shells maybe made very light, and yet not inconsistently so with the strengthrequired, for

they are strengthened by means of the outer shell and thecross-partitions. Thus by my construction of a coupling in two parts,each one of which consists of shells integral with each other, materialis saved and various additional advantages gained.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A shaft-coupling composed of two sections, eaeh section consisting oftwo semi-ey lindrical shells formed integral with each other by means oftransverse partitions located in the annular` space between the shells,and said sections being connected by clamping-bolts, substantially asshown and described.

2. A shaft-coupling composed of two sections, each section consisting oftwo semi-cylindrical shells formed together of a single piece of metalin such a manner as to leave a hollow space between them, substantiallyas shown and described.

8. In a shaft coupling, the combination of two sections, each sectionhaving an inner shell provided with a longitudinal flange perforated toreceive clamping-bolts, an outer shell slotted to allow access to saidbolts, and transverse partitions connecting the shells, substantially asshown and set forth.

4. Inashaft-coupling, thehollow chambered sections A A, provided withslots d d, and adapted to be secured together by bolts whose heads andnuts are inclosed within the hollow spaces, substantially as shown anddescribed.

5. In ashaft-coupling, the sections A A, each cast in one piece, andconsisting of an inner flanged semi-cylindrical shell, an outer slottedsemi-cylindrical covering, and transverse partitions, lsubstantially asshown and described.

In testimony whereot'lafx my signature in 4o presence of two witnesses.

JOHN RICHARDS.

Vitnesses:

ALBERT E. HALL, WILLIAM Davies.

